I've been wondering if it's possible to define a default todo-state for all items appearing under a headline, like
* shopping list :PROPERTIES: :header-args: todo-state: TOBUY :END: ** bananas ** bread so when calling org-agenda both bananas and bread have the todo-state TOBUY applied to them. Obviously placing "todo-state" after :header-args: doesn't work, it's just an example of how I imagine it could work.